Discussion on the application of video cloud computing in NGB

When it comes to cloud computing, the two most common comments from industry friends are "very hot" and "too conceptual". Cloud computing is very close to us, and IT giants are talking about the epoch-making changes brought about by cloud computing in various media; on the other hand, cloud computing is "very far away". Different industry players have different understandings of cloud computing from their own fields and perspectives. It can be said that the elephant is invisible.

Let's look at cloud computing from several different perspectives. From the perspective of technological development, cloud computing is developed from distributed computing, parallel computing, and grid computing. It is the result of the hybrid evolution and leap of concepts such as virtualization, utility computing, IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), and SaaS (Software as a Service). From the perspective of business model, cloud computing provides a new type of information service that is paid on demand. From the successful forms in the industry, we can see cloud computing products and services from companies such as Google, Amazon, Salesforce, and VMware.

From the perspective of the development of the radio and television industry, what can cloud computing bring?

The next generation broadcast network and the integration of three networks present a large integrated scene for users. Each family has an exclusive 40M access bandwidth and can easily and comfortably enjoy online high-definition movies; users can enjoy a variety of services at any time, any place, and using any terminal. We see that high definition and multi-service integration are the trends of the future consumer media industry. Under this trend, cloud computing is an ideal choice from the perspective of technical architecture and business model.

First of all, starting from the technical architecture, cloud computing is very suitable for the radio and television application model under the integration of three networks. Cloud computing uses virtualization technology, which greatly saves the construction cost of the IT infrastructure of the data center; supports the ability to carry multiple business operations on the same set of IT infrastructure, and helps various value-added services to load and operate in the data center; at the same time, using the centralized processing advantages of cloud computing, it improves the operating efficiency of the IT infrastructure and reduces the energy consumption of the entire system. From the analysis of the business types of the existing network, whether it is the Internet or the communication network, video multimedia services are the services that occupy the most network and storage resources. From the perspective of business development, the pace of high-definition video multimedia services is accelerating. Driven by such demand, video services will occupy more resources. Building a content storage and distribution service platform based on cloud computing technology architecture will greatly reduce network operating costs. Digital TV services are processed through set-top boxes. The variety of set-top box terminals and their uneven capabilities are a major obstacle to the slow development of digital TV services. Cloud computing greatly reduces the requirements for terminal hardware and software through computing and processing in the cloud, allowing low-configuration terminals to support more and more complex services. With the development trend of interactive interaction and all-media presentation of digital TV, the terminal integration solution using cloud computing is more in line with the development of various innovative businesses such as three-screen applications.

Secondly, the innovative business model of pay-as-you-go cloud computing has greatly reduced the cost of using IT technology. Both service providers and end users no longer need to pay too much attention to the specific details of various IT technologies, but can focus on their business logic and business model. A vivid example of innovative cloud computing business abroad is a startup company established by some film and television production staff - Animoto, a company known as "zero asset facilities", which rents Amazon Web Services and Rightscale as its software and hardware infrastructure, and makes user-submitted pictures and music clips into videos comparable to Hollywood blockbusters on the cloud platform, and can share them with friends through the Internet. In the era of cloud computing, end users do not need to purchase expensive software media or install complex software to use various cloud applications, and the more reasonable way of paying-as-you-go reduces the cost of using information services. With the long-term accumulation of content creativity and production, radio and television practitioners are at the upstream of the consumer media industry. With the help of the industrial changes brought about by cloud computing, more innovative models will be brought to the information industry.

As mentioned in the book The Great Switch, when comparing the development of cloud computing with the development of power grids, "cloud computing has the same effect on technology as power grids have on power applications." With the help of power grids, power companies have provided cheap energy access to every household, which has enabled people to "use these cheap energies with incredible creativity." Cloud computing brings to the industry the ability to use cheap IT resources with greater creativity, which will greatly change the operation and service model of the information industry, including the radio and television industry.

In the next generation broadcast network, the deployment of video cloud computing can greatly reduce the upgrade and maintenance costs of set-top box terminals and realize "zero client". Users can play various large-scale games through set-top boxes, such as 3D large-scale games such as Need for Speed ​​and Devil May Cry, providing users with "extraordinary user interaction experience".

In the current strategic transformation stage of the next-generation network, video cloud computing helps broadcasting and television operators continuously improve their core competitiveness, provide users with more innovative business experiences, and navigate the wave of industrial integration under the next-generation network.